MaxTech Transceiver - Manual (Page 42)

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Camera Equalization
Eq ualization, or syn ch ronizing mu ltiple cam eras to th e sam e flash , requires prec ision
timing . Even th ough we perc eive camer a triggering activity as ins tantaneous , it is not.
Even th e flash , whic h app ears to p rovide light only for an instan t, has a tim e duration
(flash duration) that needs to be factored into synchronization calculations.
Every c amera h as a delay from the time it is triggered until the s hutter is fully open.
T he trig ger ca n or igin ate f rom either th e c am era’s trig ger bu tton or via th e m otor d rive
port. This delay is called lag time and it can be different from camera to camera and
may even vary between two cameras of the exact same model. If two cameras are
triggered at exactly the sam e time their s hutters will be open at d ifferen t mom ents . If
one cam era is attac hed to a flas h, the other cam era’s s hutter w ill probably not be op en
at the right moment to capture the flash.
Some cameras are not suitable for equalization. For best equalization a camera must
have a con sis tent lag tim e. If a cam era’s lag tim e varies widely or un predic tably from
sh ot to shot th en it may n ot be pos sible to s ynch ronize that c amera. T his is not a flaw
of either the c amera or th e Mu ltiMA X. A varying lag time in a cam era is c ons idered
acc eptab le operat ion f or the ma jority of p hotog raph ic s ituation s. C am eras are us ually
des igne d to res pon d p redic tably s hot to s hot, b ut are not n eces sar ily or sp ecif ically
designed to do so with the precision needed for equalization. Many factors can affect
a cam era’s lag tim e:
• Camera Pre-Trigger status – c am eras that h ave a two s tage tr igge r bu tton (half
pres s “ wak es up ” th e c am era, f ull p res s t rig ger s t he c am era) will p rob ably h ave
widely diff erent lag tim es if trig gered w hile awake vers us asleep. C ameras
us ually have more c ons istent lag tim es if th ey are kept “awak e” or Pr e-
T r ig ger ed . T h e c am er a w ill als o r es p on d m or e q uic k ly, b ut w ill c on s um e
batteries at a faster rate. Pre-Trigger cables are available from P ocketW izard
for m any cam eras
• Cam era batteries – lag t imes ma y begin to drif t or s low d own as th e cam era’s
batteries fade, especially in primarily mechanical cameras. Fresh batteries are
recom men ded f or equalization
• T emp erature and hum idity – as these factors change, the mechanical parts of a
camera may move differently thus affecting lag time. A temperature increase
may dec rease lag tim e as the c amera’s internal lub rican ts are w armed and f low
more freely or vice versa
• Hor izontal vs vertical orientation – as a camera is moved through these
orienta tions various me ch anis m s, es pec ially sh utter s in foc al plane cam eras , will
be aff ected b y gravity making them move dif ferently thu s af fec ting lag tim e. In
general, do n ot ch ange a c amera’s orientation du ring eq ualization